Last Rehearsal for The Family Crystal before Principal Photography Begins

Today is the last rehearsal we have for The Family Crystal web series. Tomorrow we begin principal photography and my call time is 7 am. Means I'm going to have to wake up at 5 am to be able to feed the kitties, get my act together and get there by 7 am. Ugh.

Cast members:
Crystal - played by me, Crystal Ann Taylor
my sister Rhonda played by Leah Allers
my Dad is played by Tom Katsis
Rhonda's husband is played by Barry Alexander
The beauty consultant is played by Peter Bedard
Therapist is played by Katherine McEwan
Beauty Crystal is played by Angel Wainwright
The tutor is played by Eric Rubin.

These actors are terrific and it's awesome that I'm in their presence.

The writer/director is Elaine Zicree
Producers are Susan Shearer and Richard Redlin.
Eugenia Care is assisting the producers and doing everything else we need.

We have a crew of professionals working on this as well, but I don't know who yet.

Call Backs for The Family Crystal Web Series

Yesterday, we had call backs for the various roles in The Family Crystal which had not been cast already. If you recall, this is the web series Elaine Zicree wrote for me to star in, as Crystal. She also wrote the role of my father with fine actor Tom Katsis in mind. Happily he accepted.

The Family Crystal is about the trials and tribulations of a beleaguered, long-suffering, much put-upon daughter of an alcoholic elderly father and her vapid, intellectually challenged, pretty sister who doesn't want to share in parental caretaking.

Ryan Beard ran the camera which was videotaping our performances so that Elaine could review them later and maker her choices. He also was one of the actors vying for the tutor role and he did a terrific job, helped along by his wonderful British accent (South Hampton).

The auditions will apparently be online on a closed casting directors access website, where only the casting director and the actor auditioning can access. Dare I look at me?

So, we were casting for the roles of my sister Rhonda, her husband Eric, and the tutor. I wasn't able to make the initial auditions, which I would have liked to sit in on for experience. But I was available to come to CAZT on Formosa Ave in LA to read with the actors in the call backs. The above photo shows the team we were reading for, producer Susan Shearer, writer/director Elaine Zicree, and producer Richard Redlin.

This was great fun for me as I had never done a call back before, and certainly not from the secure position of having already been cast. I read with two young women vying for the role of Rhonda and I read with three young men for the role of her husband, Eric. It was an awesome learning experience.

Then I watched the Rhondas read with four young men for the roles of Eric and the tutor. This was an awesome experience as well, and it taught me a lot.

Then Elaine asked me to read from the sidelines for a scene I was peripherally in, but in reality was between Rhonda and Eric, so that too was interesting, although I've done that before, when I got to play Kirk.

I'm so excited about this project. The scenes are very funny and I can have so much fun with them. And they are so true to life. I just hope I can do them justice.

For further information, check out my article on "The Process of Casting a Web Series" on Suite101.com.

The Family Crystal Web Series

I mentioned before that I will be starring in a web series that Elaine Zicree wrote for me and Richard Redlin is producing. I learned last night at our Table meeting that we now have the beginnings of a website for it. Things are moving along nicely and I'm excited.